Google was reportedly "punished for its innovation": the American giant, which is facing various antitrust fronts in Europe and the United States, challenged this Tuesday, January 28, a seven-year-old case before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The digital giant, accused by the European Commission of having abused its dominant position via its Android operating system, defended itself before the highest European court. And according to the American group, it has not hindered competition in Europe in any way, whether it concerns operating systems, search engines or digital advertising.
Seven years ago, the European Commission decided to impose a record fine of 4.3 billion euros on Google after months of investigation. The European executive considered that the American company was using its Android mobile operating system to stifle its competitors. For Brussels, Google's agreements that required phone manufacturers to pre-install the Google Search search engine, the Chrome browser and the Google Play app store on their Android devices were contrary to European competition law. These contracts made it difficult to access alternative operating systems, and locked out other markets such as search engines or online advertising.
The European Commission accused of having made legal errors
Google then appealed, an appeal that was largely rejected by the General Court of Justice of the European Union based in Luxembourg in 2022, recalls the Court of Justice in a video posted on X.
The court upheld the Commission's decision, but reduced the fine to €4.1 billion. Enough to push Google to appeal again - an appeal whose hearing will take place this Tuesday, January 28, 2025.
On this occasion, the American giant did not fail to make its arguments heard. According to the group, the EU would have "sought to reshape markets and call into question business models favorable to competition". Brussels is said to have "committed multiple legal errors", in addition to wanting to use this fine to "punish the giant for its innovation", reports Reuters, this Tuesday, January 28.
For Google, the agreements concluded with smartphone manufacturers have not "restricted competition, but have (on the contrary, Editor's note) promoted it". It will be several more months before the European judges rule on this case. And this time, the decision will be final and without appeal.
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